Well, it had to happen some time. But at least it was a long time in coming. Thirteen games into the 2014 World Cup there was finally a match that was not very good. Not that it quietened this arena: there was noise in Curitiba, and lots of it, there was just not much else. For a moment this felt as if it was going to be enjoyable, the momentum with Nigeria, but that moment was brief; the opening seven minutes were exciting; the remaining 83 were not. And so Brazil has its first draw as well and a 0-0 draw at that.
There had been 41 goals in 12 games before this match, at an average of 3.4 per match. There were not much more than 3.4 shots in this game – not on target anyway. Apart from one superb save from Vincent Enyeama, neither goalkeeper made a significant stop and, but for Ogenyi Onazi’s very early effort, no striker came agonisingly close. At times this was painful, though.
Perhaps this should not have been a huge surprise. Nigeria had not won in their last eight World Cup matches, since beating Bulgaria in 1998. Iran’s famous victory against USA at the same tournament is their only win in nine. Their preparation had been far from perfect as well, with resources as limited as institutional enthusiasm and international cooperation. Kit shrunk, games were cancelled and clubs refused to release players.
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